The course will provide students with a broad understanding of the complex relationships between climate change, displacement and the application of human rights and other laws in the search for solutions. The course will be divided into ten lectures on the following themes:

1.     Climate displacement: Theory, Perspectives and Predictions

2.     The Reality of Climate Displacement: Countries Affected, Legal Issues Involved, etc.

3.     Human Rights and Climate Change

4.     Housing, Land and Property Rights Dimensions of Climate Displacement

5.     Institutional Mechanisms for Addressing Climate Displacement

6.     Case Studies: Bangladesh, Kiribati, Maldives, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and the United States

7.     Climate Displacement Solutions in Practice

8.     Land Acquisition and Climate Displacement

9.     Resettlement as a Durable Solution to Climate Displacement: The Role of Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Timor Leste, Fiji and Other States

10. Debate on a New Convention on Climate Displacement: Good or Bad Idea?

The learning outcomes include equipping students to:

• understand the phenomenon of climate displacement, its likely scale, countries most heavily affected, how it manifests and required solutions
• understand the position of international law, in particular human rights law, on climate displacement and the rights of those affected
• understand the particular challenges, legal and otherwise, facing the most heavily affected countries, including Bangladesh, Kiribati, Maldives, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and how these may best be addressed.
•  understand the key actors in the area of climate displacement including UN agencies, national governments, civil society actors and affected communities

It is expected that the assessment will be:

• a research essay on a central topic relating to climate displacement
• performance during a debate on the subject of a climate change convention

26 Contact Hours (Intensive Delivery over 4 days) plus private study.

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None

Basic knowledge of international law, human righrts law, climate change issues, displacement and the Asia-Pacific region. The course will be of interest to both law students and non-law students.

The Climate Change and Displacement Reader (Scott Leckie, Ezekiel Simperingham and Jordan Bakker, eds., Taylor & Francis, Routledge/Earthscan, 2012, and various materials prepared by the lecturer.

Access to the internet